


mind, body, and...

by mouthfulofbees (dog_fish)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Yuma and kaito’s first duel wasn’t interrupted au, and yuma got his soul taken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:47:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21763975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dog_fish/pseuds/mouthfulofbees
Summary: Kaito was not aware that souls could talk, especially once separated from their bodies. He's glad that Orbital takes care of their flight path, or he would've crashed them into a building in surprise.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32
Collections: Yu-Gi-Oh! It's Time to G-G-G-Gift! [Mini-Exchange]





	mind, body, and...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Firebull](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firebull/gifts).



> life has been...a bit hectic haha. got accepted to the school i applied to tho! 
> 
> anyway, here is my mini exchange prompt fill, for firebull. i hope you like it!

Kaito had never thought to appreciate the fact that it was Orbital who handled all the mundane aspects of flying. He could have studied and mastered the art, of course — of  _ course _ — but as it was, he had more important things to worry about. Like updating his deck, or dealing with Dr. Faker.

Keeping his brother alive. Hunting the Numbers.

...or trying not to have a stroke when an invisible voice yelled  _ directly into his ear _ five thousand feet above the city.

_ OHMYGOD _

“What the fuck?!”

”L-Lord Kaito?”

He flailed as Orbital steadied their flight. Shaking his head, he barked out an “Orbital-“ before the voice spoke again.

_ Wait are………...t Kaito guy?! W…… _

Kaito tried to roll himself around to check behind him — maybe someone had stuck some sort of transmitter to his back, maybe — but Orbital corrected their position again. He could hear the robot stuttering questions, but was a bit distracted by the  _ other  _ set of questions that he could somehow faintly hear despite the rush of the nighttime wind.

“Orbital, silence!" he finally thought to say, and the robot fell quiet, waiting. 

_...wha…...oing on? _

It was quieter now, at least. He tried to  _ think _ .

“Land us as soon as you can find somewhere private. And keep away from  _ all  _ security cameras.” 

Orbital complied with blessed silence. Kaito numbly stared at the ground, trying and failing to think. It took a few moments to realize that he was waiting for the voice to say something else. 

“Hello?” he tried, and then, “shut up, Orbital,” because he could just  _ feel  _ the robot’s questions coming. “Hello?”

_ W…...go... _

The voice was getting fainter now, still full of fear.

“Uh,” he answered, very intelligently.  _ Stop that! Stop mumbling.  _ He straightened his shoulders as best he could with the glider on his back, tried to put the usual bite to his words. “My name is Tenjou Kaito. Who are you? Tell me.”

_ My.....name is… I d…….emember my name _

“Wh—“

_ —and I…….’t know wha...happening and I THINK you hurt me somehow and you probably hurt Astral and now I can’t hear him and where is he? Where’s my key, where are we, why are we flying, I need to be HOME or Astral and—and Akari and— _

“ _ Shut up! _ ” Kaito hissed on instinct. The voice was getting louder, more distinct. He needed to gather information.

_ —but I think you KIDNAPPED me and… wait, we were dueling! And Astral and I lost and then… _

“Dueling?” He’d had a duel recently, yes, he’d won another Number just an hour ago. Some kid who sounded...exactly like the voice in his ear.

_ I think….you hurt me. _

...oh.

“Tsukumo Yuma,” he tried. “Is that correct?”

There was silence, and then

_ Yuma _

“Is that correct?”

_ Y-yeah, I think so. Tsukumo Yuma. My name is Yuma. Yu—ma. _

There was an odd note to the voice as it — Tsukumo Yuma, his most recent opponent —spoke the name. Kaito could hear everything perfectly, the exact timbre of his voice, the way that Yuma pronounced the syllables almost cautiously. There were even pauses in his speech, the normal cadence of a person stopping to think or to take a breath. 

It occurred to him that this might be a problem.

The wind started to quiet as Orbital slowed down, apparently finding a good place to land. He was aiming for the roof of a smaller office building. It was still damp from the rain and partially hidden from the highway by a line of trees. Time to...deal with this, whatever it was.

Orbital practically backflipped into his usual form as soon as they landed. “Lord—Lord Kaito, what’s going on?”

Kaito was getting sick of hearing that question. “I believe the soul of my last Numbers opponent has begun to follow me. I’ve started hearing its voice. It might have attached itself to me, somehow.”

“A—attached?”

_ I’m attached to you? How? _

“I don’t know how it happened,” he answered honestly. “I don’t remember hearing any souls after my previous duels.”

_ That time in the mall! Astral and I saw you dueling that guy…and then he looked like an old man afterward! _

“What does that m—mean, Lord Kaito?”

_ Did you….take his soul? _

“Orbital, contact Heartland. No, contact Dr. Faker.” Kaito slowly sat down on the rooftop. His fingers absently tangled themselves together, and he squeezed them rhythmically, over and over. An old tic he thought he’d left behind.

He just needed to know what was going on. He just needed to think

_ Did you take MY soul? _

“Yes, Lord Kaito! W—what should I say is the reason for the call?”

_ ….Kaito? Am I dead? _

He rubbed his eyes and pushed himself to his feet. “Tell him there’s been a complication with the Numbers. Tell him— no, that’s not right. Don’t tell him too much.”

“So...what should I say, Lord Kaito?”

_ Is he going to hurt me once you tell him? _

“Hurt you? How?” Kaito snapped. “He can’t hurt you, you’re just a soul.”

_ Really? _

“L-Lord…?”

_ But...I don’t want to stay a soul. _

“I don’t  _ care _ ,” Kaito snarled, whipping around to pace back and forth. He tried glaring a hole at the rooftop under his feet since Yuma’s stupid face wasn’t visible. “I don’t care about you, I have to fix this, and you need to SHUT UP!”

Haruto would have gone quiet and stared at him. Kaito never shouted out of the blue. It meant something was very wrong.

But Yuma wasn’t Haruto. Yuma was just some random stranger that Kaito had k— Yuma was just a stranger who had attached himself to Kaito. He didn’t care what was wrong with Kaito, and he kept.  _ Talking _ .

_ I want to be a person again! I don’t want to be stuck with you! Astral is probably freaking out and Tori probably called Akari and Baa-chan and everyone’s freaking out and it’s all because of YOU! _

“Well shouting about it isn’t going to help!” Kaito retorted. “You need to  _ shut the fuck up  _ and help me solve this.  _ Fuck! _ ”

“Lord Kaito—“

“Shut up, Orbital!”

_ Help you? _

Yuma wasn’t yelling anymore, which was good for Kaito’s sanity, at least. “Yes! We both wanna get out of this and I don’t want to be stuck with  _ you  _ when I have to worry about my brother!” He clenched his fists until his fingernails dug into his palms. If Haruto were there, he would have told him not to hurt his hands when there were other things that needed to be hurt. His brother always got that distant look in his eyes when Kaito was angry. Kaito hated that look, hated to hear Haruto go on about death and people screaming but right now he desperately wished they were together. He desperately wanted his brother here to keep him company, here on this dirty rooftop in the middle of the night.

_ You don’t know what’s going on either, do you? _

“No! OBVIOUSLY!” he snarled at the sky.

_ You take souls but you don’t even know what you’re doing. That’s stupid. _

“YOU’RE—“  _ No. Stop that. You’re years older than this stupid kid _ . “I don’t care about what you say,” he said, and felt a surge of pride when his voice came out poised and icy.

_ Yeah but you’re stuck with me, so you have to hear it anyway.  _

There was  _ no way  _ Yuma didn’t have a sibling too. He was probably the younger one, though, judging how easily he could pitch his voice to set Kaito’s teeth on edge. 

“Fine then,” he bit out. “Let’s make a deal.”

_ A deal? _

“We both focus on getting ourselves out of this. And I’ll try to get you back in your body.” 

_ No. _

“What?!”

_ You're gonna get me back in my body.  _

“Or else what?” Kaito huffed pissily.  _ Stupid kid. _

_ Or else I’ll just hang on to you. I’m not...floating away, or dying just because you want me to go away. This is YOUR fault. _

“...fine.”

_ Fine? _

“Yeah. Deal, or whatever.” 

_ Oh. Um...good. Ok! _

Yuma didn’t sound like he was going to shout, or start hyperventilating again. Kaito would take what he could get.

“Lord Kaito?” Orbital was right next to him. Kaito flinched violently. 

“What!” he barked.

_ You should be nicer to your robot. _

Kaito elected not to dignify that with a response.

“W—What would you like me to tell Dr. Faker?”

That was a good question. “Any ideas?” he muttered unthinkingly.

_ Uh. Is he a bad kind of guy? _

Kaito snorted. “Yeah.”

_ Then you shouldn’t give him any secrets! You never know what evil people will do if they have dirt on you. That’s what Akari says. _

Kaito looked away from Orbital. “Akari?”

_ My sister. She’s smarter than me when it comes to these kinds of people. _

There was an edge to his voice, like he still wasn’t sure if he should be counting Kaito as a  _ good  _ person, which was...fair. 

“Let’s...lets hope she’s smarter than me, too. Cancel the call, Orbital. Take me home. And I explicitly order you to tell  _ no one  _ about this soul business. Our flight back was completely unremarkable, just delayed due to the rain. Do you understand?”

“Y—Yes, Lord Kaito!” Orbital saluted. His voice was as tinny as ever, but Kaito thought he could hear a note of relief. Uncertainty was...nerve-wracking. It was good that Orbital was felt better now that there was a plan to follow.

_ Oh my god. _

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked as Orbital launched them into the sky again.

_ We’re FLYING! _

Kaito shut his eyes. “Please stop talking.”

_ It’s not a plane, we’re ACTUALLY flying!! _

“Stop it! You’re being  _ annoying _ .”

_ Ha! You’re a dick, I don’t have to care!  _

He was screwed.

_ Hey, Kaito! Tell your robot to go higher, I want to see the moon! _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> yuma DID get to see the moon because kaito is Too Stressed to argue right now


End file.
